James Murphy's Blog
March 23, 2020
Moving The Goalposts & A Sign Of The Crimes #CrimeCarePackage
Last Thursday, under the increasing shadow of the Corona Virus, I finished the latest series in the Crime Fiction Writing Classes I provide for Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council. With a dedicated and talented bunch of students we'd had four weeks of intense sessions on the writing of crime fiction and the learning of the business of being an author, with my intention being to share my knowledge, experiences and mistakes so that others who wish to start their writing journey do not repeat them.
Despite the backdrop of the virus and the fears associated with it, we left relatively buoyed, the students off to continue their works, me hopefully (and finally) finishing my current book, as well as announcing the programme for The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing 2020.
There was a lot to look forward to...and then there wasn't.
As the shadow of the virus began to loom larger every day, Noireland (one of the highpoints in my Festival Calendar had to reschedule. That was a blow but as they say, every cloud and all that. It has been rescheduled for my birthday (if circumstances allow).
Next came our decision to reschedule the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing. This of course was not a decision taken lightly but a necessary one nonetheless. This was of course difficult enough in itself but we also had to take the equally difficult decision to proceed with a CrowdFund project in a time when the economy is on the verge of collapse and we're facing an unprecedented medical emergency. So why did we do it? The short answer is that we would lose out on a MatchFund from a Government body of £5,000 if we hadn't. The role of the Festival is an important one, particularly in the development and preservation of The Arts in Northern Ireland so we needed to take every possible step to ensure that at some point in the future, we would be able to deliver.
As well as all this I had to cancel several classes and workshops, end my work with local schools and watch whilst my friends and colleagues in the writing community suffered similarly, all the while worrying about the impact that the virus was currently having on my family, friends and loved ones as we increasingly socially isolate from one another. It felt like every time I was getting a handle on things, the goalposts were being moved.
Of course, that was when I learned that as always, the writing community were mobilising to help one another. Through the #CrimeCarePackage a very worthwhile initiative undertaken by a group of local writers in conjunction with No Alibis Bookstore, and the actions and reactions of fellow writers, I learned, or at least relearned a very important lesson. That was that I hadn't gotten this far without resilience and adaptability (none of us have), some of the very qualities I had been trying to further develop in my students. I also hadn't made it this far without the help of the #WritingCommunity.
The upshot is that I have adapted and am currently putting in place new ways of working. My Crime Fiction Class now talk regularly through a WhatsApp Group, supporting each other in writing and in life. My friends and colleagues in the writing community doing likewise. Some of my work with schools and my work with Edge Hill University is now being done remotely, and the planning for The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing is being adapted also.
Obviously none of us know what Covid-19 has planned for us and although there may be dark times ahead, we know that we have the support of those around us, our loved ones and communities. We also have our art. It goes without saying that writing (even if it comes in the form of a blog like this one) can have a positive effect on our mental health, especially in the current circumstances #KeepWriting.
Despite the backdrop of the virus and the fears associated with it, we left relatively buoyed, the students off to continue their works, me hopefully (and finally) finishing my current book, as well as announcing the programme for The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing 2020.
There was a lot to look forward to...and then there wasn't.
As the shadow of the virus began to loom larger every day, Noireland (one of the highpoints in my Festival Calendar had to reschedule. That was a blow but as they say, every cloud and all that. It has been rescheduled for my birthday (if circumstances allow).
Next came our decision to reschedule the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing. This of course was not a decision taken lightly but a necessary one nonetheless. This was of course difficult enough in itself but we also had to take the equally difficult decision to proceed with a CrowdFund project in a time when the economy is on the verge of collapse and we're facing an unprecedented medical emergency. So why did we do it? The short answer is that we would lose out on a MatchFund from a Government body of £5,000 if we hadn't. The role of the Festival is an important one, particularly in the development and preservation of The Arts in Northern Ireland so we needed to take every possible step to ensure that at some point in the future, we would be able to deliver.
As well as all this I had to cancel several classes and workshops, end my work with local schools and watch whilst my friends and colleagues in the writing community suffered similarly, all the while worrying about the impact that the virus was currently having on my family, friends and loved ones as we increasingly socially isolate from one another. It felt like every time I was getting a handle on things, the goalposts were being moved.
Of course, that was when I learned that as always, the writing community were mobilising to help one another. Through the #CrimeCarePackage a very worthwhile initiative undertaken by a group of local writers in conjunction with No Alibis Bookstore, and the actions and reactions of fellow writers, I learned, or at least relearned a very important lesson. That was that I hadn't gotten this far without resilience and adaptability (none of us have), some of the very qualities I had been trying to further develop in my students. I also hadn't made it this far without the help of the #WritingCommunity.
The upshot is that I have adapted and am currently putting in place new ways of working. My Crime Fiction Class now talk regularly through a WhatsApp Group, supporting each other in writing and in life. My friends and colleagues in the writing community doing likewise. Some of my work with schools and my work with Edge Hill University is now being done remotely, and the planning for The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing is being adapted also.
Obviously none of us know what Covid-19 has planned for us and although there may be dark times ahead, we know that we have the support of those around us, our loved ones and communities. We also have our art. It goes without saying that writing (even if it comes in the form of a blog like this one) can have a positive effect on our mental health, especially in the current circumstances #KeepWriting.
January 30, 2020
Introducing The Man-Mat Osman
So, after teasing it in my last blog, I can finally welcome my first guest blogger of 2020, Mat Osman. Describing himself as the “shorter, more niche appeal Osman brother” (Younger brother Richard is co-host of BBC’s Pointless and House of Games), Mat is most widely known as bassist for and a founder member of Suede. Until now that is. Having ventured down the dark path that is Crime Fiction Writing, his first novel, “The Ruins” is available now for pre-order and is scheduled to be released next month.
About the book: Described as, “a magnificent modern noir tale of music, memory and myth” The Ruins tells the story of estranged twins, Adam and Brandon. After Brandon is killed, Adam, the more bookish in nature of the two, finds himself having to negotiate his way through the murky underworld once inhabited by his brother, finding himself increasingly drawn into it and putting him dangerously at peril of losing himself and those he holds dear in the process.
Needless to say, as a Suede fan of 25+ years, a Crime Fiction Writer and Crime Book Junkie, I’m more than a little excited to have reserved my copy. Anyway, enough from me, let’s hear from Mat.
Hi Mat, thanks so much for being my guest and apologies for the word play on “Introducing The Band” as my title. I’ll try not to fanboy too much as we chat, I promise.
So, I’ve been reading some of the reviews already, which are amazing, how are you feeling now that the book is out there in the world?
It’s an odd mixture of pride, because I’ve never really released a piece of work that was all mine before, and terror, for much the same reason. I’d never realised what a psychic shield having a band around you is; any criticism is watered down until it’s tolerable. It’s hard not to take criticism of the book much more personally than I would Suede’s music.
But mostly it’s just relief. It’s a long old process writing a book, and even once it’s finished there’s the finding an agent and publishers, the proofs, the cover design, the copy-edits and the like. At the moment I can’t wait for it finally to be out there in the real world.
Can you tell us a little bit about how the book came about?
I’d been writing short stories for a while and I realised that many of them inhabited the same space. So I started fitting them together and I devised a story to link them all together. Actually, most of the stuff I started with got dropped once I realised the pleasure of writing something more complex, but I probably would never have started without those short stories. Once I had a structure I found myself actually enjoying the writing. I didn’t think too hard about what it all meant and I just let it flow.
So, as well as the launch, you have some book related events lined up. How have you been preparing for that? I mean, I know you’re used to appearing in front of huge crowds etc but will your preparation for this differ much from preparing for a Suede gig?
It’s infinitely more nerve-wracking than playing with Suede. Give me 50,000 people at a festival and I’m unfazed - it’s just a day at work for me. But give me ten readers and a microphone and I’m a bag of worry. I know by now I should be used to it - we’ve done big Q&As for the Suede documentary - but it’s still a bit special to me at the moment. At least I don’t have to do all the stretches that I need before a Suede gig nowadays!
I should have added to my last question, that you have nothing lined up for Northern Ireland yet, though we at The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing are doing what we can to change that. So how is your diary for May lol?
I’m really looking forward to coming back to Northern Ireland. It’s always been a special place for Suede, right from the start of our career, and there’s a sense that art - music, books, films - really count for something there. May is hard though because I’m juggling Suede shows, festivals, recording and writing all at the same time. I definitely want to check out No Alibis - when I was first looking at book events I asked on Twitter about the best places for authors to do readings and No Alibis got mentioned hundreds of times.
As a writer myself, I’m always interested to know about other people’s writing processes and how they fit their writing into often already busy lives, can you give us a bit of an insight into a day in your life as a writer?
I’ve come to the unhappy realisation that I can’t write at home, which is a shame because I have a lovely home studio with cats and a great old stereo and views out over London, but it’s just too distracting. Instead I take myself off to the British Library, with a laptop with busted wi-fi, and try to do 2000 words before I go home. There’s a program called Cold Turkey Writer which I love; it doesn’t allow you to access anything but a blank writing page until you’ve written your target.
Tell us something about you that might shock us.
Oh god, I don’t think there’s much. I can’t whistle, that always seems to surprise people. Or click my fingers.
Finally, what’s next for you, project wise? I’m hoping to hear that there’s another book in the pipeline as well as a new Suede record and tour (with particular emphasis on Belfast & Dublin dates of course).
There’s a new book which I’m about 60,000 words into but it’s still revealing itself so it’ll probably shrink and grow and mutate before it’s in any sense readable. It’s about a troupe of Elizabethan boy actors called The Blackfriars Boys. There’s a new Suede record just percolating: ‘nasty, brutish and short’ Brett described it as. There are Suede shows both massive and tiny in the works. And I’m off to talk about The Ruins in England, Scotland and The States in the spring.
To find out more about Mat, or to pre-order The Ruins you can visit:
matosman.com
@Foyles
https://foyles.co.uk/witem/fiction-po...…
@Waterstones
https://waterstones.com/book/the-ruin...…
@blackwellbooks
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...…
@indiebound
(US) https://indiebound.org/book/978191224...
About the book: Described as, “a magnificent modern noir tale of music, memory and myth” The Ruins tells the story of estranged twins, Adam and Brandon. After Brandon is killed, Adam, the more bookish in nature of the two, finds himself having to negotiate his way through the murky underworld once inhabited by his brother, finding himself increasingly drawn into it and putting him dangerously at peril of losing himself and those he holds dear in the process.
Needless to say, as a Suede fan of 25+ years, a Crime Fiction Writer and Crime Book Junkie, I’m more than a little excited to have reserved my copy. Anyway, enough from me, let’s hear from Mat.
Hi Mat, thanks so much for being my guest and apologies for the word play on “Introducing The Band” as my title. I’ll try not to fanboy too much as we chat, I promise.
So, I’ve been reading some of the reviews already, which are amazing, how are you feeling now that the book is out there in the world?
It’s an odd mixture of pride, because I’ve never really released a piece of work that was all mine before, and terror, for much the same reason. I’d never realised what a psychic shield having a band around you is; any criticism is watered down until it’s tolerable. It’s hard not to take criticism of the book much more personally than I would Suede’s music.
But mostly it’s just relief. It’s a long old process writing a book, and even once it’s finished there’s the finding an agent and publishers, the proofs, the cover design, the copy-edits and the like. At the moment I can’t wait for it finally to be out there in the real world.
Can you tell us a little bit about how the book came about?
I’d been writing short stories for a while and I realised that many of them inhabited the same space. So I started fitting them together and I devised a story to link them all together. Actually, most of the stuff I started with got dropped once I realised the pleasure of writing something more complex, but I probably would never have started without those short stories. Once I had a structure I found myself actually enjoying the writing. I didn’t think too hard about what it all meant and I just let it flow.
So, as well as the launch, you have some book related events lined up. How have you been preparing for that? I mean, I know you’re used to appearing in front of huge crowds etc but will your preparation for this differ much from preparing for a Suede gig?
It’s infinitely more nerve-wracking than playing with Suede. Give me 50,000 people at a festival and I’m unfazed - it’s just a day at work for me. But give me ten readers and a microphone and I’m a bag of worry. I know by now I should be used to it - we’ve done big Q&As for the Suede documentary - but it’s still a bit special to me at the moment. At least I don’t have to do all the stretches that I need before a Suede gig nowadays!
I should have added to my last question, that you have nothing lined up for Northern Ireland yet, though we at The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing are doing what we can to change that. So how is your diary for May lol?
I’m really looking forward to coming back to Northern Ireland. It’s always been a special place for Suede, right from the start of our career, and there’s a sense that art - music, books, films - really count for something there. May is hard though because I’m juggling Suede shows, festivals, recording and writing all at the same time. I definitely want to check out No Alibis - when I was first looking at book events I asked on Twitter about the best places for authors to do readings and No Alibis got mentioned hundreds of times.
As a writer myself, I’m always interested to know about other people’s writing processes and how they fit their writing into often already busy lives, can you give us a bit of an insight into a day in your life as a writer?
I’ve come to the unhappy realisation that I can’t write at home, which is a shame because I have a lovely home studio with cats and a great old stereo and views out over London, but it’s just too distracting. Instead I take myself off to the British Library, with a laptop with busted wi-fi, and try to do 2000 words before I go home. There’s a program called Cold Turkey Writer which I love; it doesn’t allow you to access anything but a blank writing page until you’ve written your target.
Tell us something about you that might shock us.
Oh god, I don’t think there’s much. I can’t whistle, that always seems to surprise people. Or click my fingers.
Finally, what’s next for you, project wise? I’m hoping to hear that there’s another book in the pipeline as well as a new Suede record and tour (with particular emphasis on Belfast & Dublin dates of course).
There’s a new book which I’m about 60,000 words into but it’s still revealing itself so it’ll probably shrink and grow and mutate before it’s in any sense readable. It’s about a troupe of Elizabethan boy actors called The Blackfriars Boys. There’s a new Suede record just percolating: ‘nasty, brutish and short’ Brett described it as. There are Suede shows both massive and tiny in the works. And I’m off to talk about The Ruins in England, Scotland and The States in the spring.
To find out more about Mat, or to pre-order The Ruins you can visit:
matosman.com
@Foyles
https://foyles.co.uk/witem/fiction-po...…
@Waterstones
https://waterstones.com/book/the-ruin...…
@blackwellbooks
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...…
@indiebound
(US) https://indiebound.org/book/978191224...
January 28, 2020
#WritersLift & Developing My Art With 2020 Vision
So here it comes, the obligatory (albeit late) #NewYearNewMe blog. Except it's a new decade and an evolving me. I've written in the past about my writing journey to date and the importance of being active within the writing community for both social and professional reasons. What I haven't really focused on before though is the importance of the #writerslift.
Although I always do what I can to raise the profile and support the work of colleagues in the writing community, particularly my crime fiction writing peers, the impact of doing so is much more far reaching than I always realised. I came to this conclusion recently when in a moment of self-doubt / procrastination, I turned to social media as an avoidance tactic. Imagine! Within a few minutes I came across a new 5 star review of my work and some really positive comments about my upcoming novels and a short teaser trailer I had produced. On seeing these things, not only was I reinvigorated and returned to the work in progress, but it also really lifted my mood for the rest of the day (not that I was feeling particularly down, but I was definitely in great form after). Thinking more on it made me realise that physically being around friends and acquaintances within the writing community and chatting with them from time to time had a similar effect, as of course does my writing and blogging.
In a world where our attempts to maintain a positive mental attitude and maintain good mental health are often eroded by societal pressures and those we all too often decide to burden ourselves with, we all know that little things, particularly when they involve interaction and conversation with others can give us a vital lift. With that in mind, my promise to myself is to give myself more opportunities to give a lift to others both within and beyond the writing community, in the traditional sense re promotion of work / product etc, but also in the sense of promoting and supporting their well being and my own continued well being.
My other major goal for the year as a writer is to develop my art by creating a vision for what I want to achieve and how I want to do it. In one of my other roles (as an Educationalist) I have used vision creation and action planning to great effect, something I've learned I could replicate, in theory with my writing. Here are just some of the things that have made it on to the Action Plan:
*Becoming more proficient in creating good content- Working much more closely and collaboratively with Excalibur Press and The Content Club in marketing myself and my work as a writer, particularly in the creation of a media campaign around the release of "Dark Light", the final book in the Terror Trilogy.
*Further developing the Teaching aspect of my work- The courses I have taught to date have been both successful and rewarding and I'm looking forward to building on that success.
*Building on the success of The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing by increasing the festival's capacity to provide excellent programming of events in line with our ethos all across Northern Ireland throughout the year.
*Building upon the excellent outreach and intervention work undertaken by The Merlin Project to date.
*Increasing the number of festival / panel / writer events that I take part in.
As far as the blog goes, no January post would be complete without the again obligatory talk of more frequent posts (though I didn't do too badly this year). Of course it is my intention to post more frequently. It is also my intention to continue to host guest bloggers on my page.
That's exactly what I'll be doing in my next post. I can't say too much about who it is yet other than that I have been a fan of the music of this person and his band colleagues for a long time, am very much looking forward to his debut as a crime fiction writer and that he really in one of life's "Beautiful Ones". It would be pointless to say anything more.
Although I always do what I can to raise the profile and support the work of colleagues in the writing community, particularly my crime fiction writing peers, the impact of doing so is much more far reaching than I always realised. I came to this conclusion recently when in a moment of self-doubt / procrastination, I turned to social media as an avoidance tactic. Imagine! Within a few minutes I came across a new 5 star review of my work and some really positive comments about my upcoming novels and a short teaser trailer I had produced. On seeing these things, not only was I reinvigorated and returned to the work in progress, but it also really lifted my mood for the rest of the day (not that I was feeling particularly down, but I was definitely in great form after). Thinking more on it made me realise that physically being around friends and acquaintances within the writing community and chatting with them from time to time had a similar effect, as of course does my writing and blogging.
In a world where our attempts to maintain a positive mental attitude and maintain good mental health are often eroded by societal pressures and those we all too often decide to burden ourselves with, we all know that little things, particularly when they involve interaction and conversation with others can give us a vital lift. With that in mind, my promise to myself is to give myself more opportunities to give a lift to others both within and beyond the writing community, in the traditional sense re promotion of work / product etc, but also in the sense of promoting and supporting their well being and my own continued well being.
My other major goal for the year as a writer is to develop my art by creating a vision for what I want to achieve and how I want to do it. In one of my other roles (as an Educationalist) I have used vision creation and action planning to great effect, something I've learned I could replicate, in theory with my writing. Here are just some of the things that have made it on to the Action Plan:
*Becoming more proficient in creating good content- Working much more closely and collaboratively with Excalibur Press and The Content Club in marketing myself and my work as a writer, particularly in the creation of a media campaign around the release of "Dark Light", the final book in the Terror Trilogy.
*Further developing the Teaching aspect of my work- The courses I have taught to date have been both successful and rewarding and I'm looking forward to building on that success.
*Building on the success of The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing by increasing the festival's capacity to provide excellent programming of events in line with our ethos all across Northern Ireland throughout the year.
*Building upon the excellent outreach and intervention work undertaken by The Merlin Project to date.
*Increasing the number of festival / panel / writer events that I take part in.
As far as the blog goes, no January post would be complete without the again obligatory talk of more frequent posts (though I didn't do too badly this year). Of course it is my intention to post more frequently. It is also my intention to continue to host guest bloggers on my page.
That's exactly what I'll be doing in my next post. I can't say too much about who it is yet other than that I have been a fan of the music of this person and his band colleagues for a long time, am very much looking forward to his debut as a crime fiction writer and that he really in one of life's "Beautiful Ones". It would be pointless to say anything more.
Farewell But Not Goodbye
The time that I'm now using to write this, has been for the last 6 weeks, the time that I used to prepare for my Crime Fiction Writing Class. Halloween saw our last class of the course and with it came a time of reflection. Over the 6 week period, friendships had been formed, murders planned and stories began to take shape. Most importantly though, several writing journeys began in earnest. Though I've been a teacher for 20 years, I'd never done anything like this before and to be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. In reality, I just hoped I wouldn't mess it up.
The outcome was definitely well beyond my expectations. Our work over the 6 weeks, and more importantly, our discussions, led to the makings of several novels and short stories that I can't wait to read. If our last session was anything to go by, it also reawakened something in each of us that not only made us feel good, but also had a positive impact on our work and home lives, a testament to the power of art and the written word, if ever their was one.
One question that I was not prepared for as our last session was closing, was, why I had decided to run the course? My initial answer was that I thought that it would be a bit of craic and that I liked the idea of the challenge of it. When I thought more deeply on it though, I did wonder if I was looking for a sense of validation of my work, as a crime writer, that teaching can often bring. I'm not sure, is the answer to that one, though I suspect, Yes.
What I do know, is that it had a positive impact on my day to day teaching, giving me the shot in the arm that I needed after twenty years, removed at least some of the imposter syndrome that I (and I suspect, most other writers) have felt along my own writing journey, and finally, spurred me on to get writing properly again.
As the night ended, none of us really wanted to say goodbye...so, we didn't. With future classes and mentoring sessions planned, as well as the renewal of the course for February next year, my new companions will continue to be part of my writing journey, and I, theirs, for a while longer yet. And what's more, now we can add more people to our merry band as we go.
The outcome was definitely well beyond my expectations. Our work over the 6 weeks, and more importantly, our discussions, led to the makings of several novels and short stories that I can't wait to read. If our last session was anything to go by, it also reawakened something in each of us that not only made us feel good, but also had a positive impact on our work and home lives, a testament to the power of art and the written word, if ever their was one.
One question that I was not prepared for as our last session was closing, was, why I had decided to run the course? My initial answer was that I thought that it would be a bit of craic and that I liked the idea of the challenge of it. When I thought more deeply on it though, I did wonder if I was looking for a sense of validation of my work, as a crime writer, that teaching can often bring. I'm not sure, is the answer to that one, though I suspect, Yes.
What I do know, is that it had a positive impact on my day to day teaching, giving me the shot in the arm that I needed after twenty years, removed at least some of the imposter syndrome that I (and I suspect, most other writers) have felt along my own writing journey, and finally, spurred me on to get writing properly again.
As the night ended, none of us really wanted to say goodbye...so, we didn't. With future classes and mentoring sessions planned, as well as the renewal of the course for February next year, my new companions will continue to be part of my writing journey, and I, theirs, for a while longer yet. And what's more, now we can add more people to our merry band as we go.
The Art of Procrastination & Making Crime Pay
After what seems like forever, I've finally got started on the final book in the Terror trilogy. Why has it taken so long, you may well ask? I would love to be all arty about it and call it writer's block, but the simple truth is far from it. Procrastination is the answer, plain and straight! I'd somehow gotten it into my head that I couldn't start this book properly until I had the title for it sorted in my head. This despite both the first two books having only working titles throughout the writing process and me knowing full well that the title could be changed in the edits anyhow. Still, I stuck to my guns / excuses until after upwards of 20 working titles, I finally settled on one. I can now exclusively reveal that the final book in the Terror trilogy will be called, "Certain Terror". That is unless my Editor doesn't like it lol.
I haven't just been resting on my laurels though. In the last few weeks I've started to teach a Crime Fiction Writing Course in the beautiful, Clotsworthy House, slap, bang in the middle of the stunning Antrim Castle Gardens (and more importantly, practically on my doorstep).
We've also been busy at The Merlin Project too, with the finalising of a suite of writing workshops designed and ready for roll out to schools and community groups all over Northern Ireland. I can't wait to get started on those. We've also began work on the programme for The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing, which promises to be even more huge and even more successful than the last.
I'm also delighted to announce that I will be involved in a number of events for LibrariesNI as part of #BookWeekNI in October.
In the meantime though, I better get cracking on this book...unless of course I get stuck on the tagline lol.
I haven't just been resting on my laurels though. In the last few weeks I've started to teach a Crime Fiction Writing Course in the beautiful, Clotsworthy House, slap, bang in the middle of the stunning Antrim Castle Gardens (and more importantly, practically on my doorstep).
We've also been busy at The Merlin Project too, with the finalising of a suite of writing workshops designed and ready for roll out to schools and community groups all over Northern Ireland. I can't wait to get started on those. We've also began work on the programme for The Northern Ireland Festival of Writing, which promises to be even more huge and even more successful than the last.
I'm also delighted to announce that I will be involved in a number of events for LibrariesNI as part of #BookWeekNI in October.
In the meantime though, I better get cracking on this book...unless of course I get stuck on the tagline lol.
Every Day's A School Day & Joining The Crime Family
Despite the Teacher part of me being on a well deserved holiday, the Summer so far has been a busy, learning experience for me, developing my writing. Firstly there was my guest blog in Louise Phillips' Crime Scene blog on Writing.ie. I'd never guest blogged before so there was a bit of learning on the job to be done. I think it turned out well but you can judge for yourself below:
https://www.writing.ie/guest-blogs/jo...
Then of course there was my radio interview with Sharon Thompson. This was primarily to promote, The Terror Within, but from getting to know Sharon and her work in developing and supporting writers through her online writers group since then, I've joined in on several of Sharon's online courses, each of which was very beneficial and I learned a lot, as well as making new friends and connections. Check out Sharon's website Indulgeinwriting.com.
The Summer so far has also proved fantastic for new book releases, three of which have been accelerated to the top of my TBR pile:
Lost You by Haylen Beck (Stuart Neville)
The Hiding Game by Louise Phillips.
The Chain by Adrian Mc Kinty.
I've also just recently finished and reviewed Bongo Fury, a series of three novellas packaged into one publication with an accompanying soundtrack, by Simon Maltman. An excellent book and cd, well worth checking out.
There has been no shortage of excellent book and Crime Fiction related events happening across the Summer, and with more to come, I will be as busy and entertained as ever...oh, and in breaking news, I will hopefully get to make a start on the final Terror book this month!!
https://www.writing.ie/guest-blogs/jo...
Then of course there was my radio interview with Sharon Thompson. This was primarily to promote, The Terror Within, but from getting to know Sharon and her work in developing and supporting writers through her online writers group since then, I've joined in on several of Sharon's online courses, each of which was very beneficial and I learned a lot, as well as making new friends and connections. Check out Sharon's website Indulgeinwriting.com.
The Summer so far has also proved fantastic for new book releases, three of which have been accelerated to the top of my TBR pile:
Lost You by Haylen Beck (Stuart Neville)
The Hiding Game by Louise Phillips.
The Chain by Adrian Mc Kinty.
I've also just recently finished and reviewed Bongo Fury, a series of three novellas packaged into one publication with an accompanying soundtrack, by Simon Maltman. An excellent book and cd, well worth checking out.
There has been no shortage of excellent book and Crime Fiction related events happening across the Summer, and with more to come, I will be as busy and entertained as ever...oh, and in breaking news, I will hopefully get to make a start on the final Terror book this month!!
And In Other News
Some more exciting news to share, courtesy of local author, Simon Maltman.
When he's not busy being an Amazon bestselling author, Simon also reviews books and hosts a Crime Fiction related walking tour of Belfast.
Conlig Author, Simon Maltman recently reviewed book one in the Terror series, "The Rise of Terror" and I was thrilled with what he had to say.
High Praise indeed from such an accomplished writer.
Simon also, as part of his walking tour, is often asked which local writers he would recommend that the people who take the tour should read. I'm delighted to be included on the list, especially given the calibre of the company that I am keeping.
What he neglected to do however, was mention his own work, humble as he is. Therefore, please have a look at my review of Simon's most recent work, "The Sidewinder". Hopefully it will persuade you to purchase a copy...after you've bought my recent release, "The Terror Within" of course :)
When he's not busy being an Amazon bestselling author, Simon also reviews books and hosts a Crime Fiction related walking tour of Belfast.
Conlig Author, Simon Maltman recently reviewed book one in the Terror series, "The Rise of Terror" and I was thrilled with what he had to say.
High Praise indeed from such an accomplished writer.
Simon also, as part of his walking tour, is often asked which local writers he would recommend that the people who take the tour should read. I'm delighted to be included on the list, especially given the calibre of the company that I am keeping.
What he neglected to do however, was mention his own work, humble as he is. Therefore, please have a look at my review of Simon's most recent work, "The Sidewinder". Hopefully it will persuade you to purchase a copy...after you've bought my recent release, "The Terror Within" of course :)
News Roundup
So after promising (myself) that I would update my blog more regularly, over a month has gone past since the last post. I've a good excuse though, as this month has seen the release of the second novel in the Terror trilogy, "The Terror Within". It has also seen the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing, of which I am a Director and Programmer, explode into life.
Add into that, the official launch of the book at a Crime Fiction event at the festival, which I curated (Noir Share) and I've hardly had a moment to spare.
It has been a really exciting and fulfilling time and I hope, only just the beginning of things to come and to give you a flavour of just some of what has been happening, check out @festivalofwriting.org
Add into that, the official launch of the book at a Crime Fiction event at the festival, which I curated (Noir Share) and I've hardly had a moment to spare.
It has been a really exciting and fulfilling time and I hope, only just the beginning of things to come and to give you a flavour of just some of what has been happening, check out @festivalofwriting.org
A Walk Into The Noir with Simon Maltman
Well, life certainly has been busy here at Farset HQ over the last month. Firstly, after what seems such a long time, I was able to send off the final draft of book two in the Terror series, "The Terror Within" to Excalibur Press for final proofing. This was closely followed by conversations about cover design and press promo ahead of the launch on 13th April 2019 (stay tuned for a cover reveal and more details of the launch over the next few weeks).
Then of course there was the finalisation of the Programme for the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing. This festival is going to be HUGE!! We're so excited by the events that will be taking place throughout April in venues across Belfast and possibly beyond.
The Programme will be announced soon #Excited but obviously having me as one of the Festival Directors means that there will definitely be a bit of Noir in there somewhere. In fact, I'm delighted to say that I will be joined for my first ever panel event, by amongst others (all will be revealed soon, I promise), Conlig Crimewriter, Simon Maltman.
I first met Simon, our guest blogger, in the Summer of last year, when having heard about his Noir related Walking Tours of Belfast, I booked tickets for my wife, Heather and I. We were lucky to be the only people on the tour that day and what an excellent and informative tour it was too. Since then, Simon and I have become firm friends (though I still haven't convinced him to include any of the locations used in my books on the tour).
In addition to taking part in the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing in April,
Simon is scheduled to host a special series of walking tours for Crime Fiction Fans and aficionados as part of the upcoming Noireland International Crime Fiction Festival during the weekend of 8-10th March 2019. The festival is a must for Crime Fiction Fans, with an excellent programme that attracts a veritable who's who of local and international talent in the genre, but if attending, please make sure you set some time aside for a walk with Simon. You won't regret it, but to tell you more, I'll stop waffling now and let you hear from the man himself.
Thanks for inviting me along to your blog! We've been running our 'Belfast Noir' tours for about a year now. It had struck me that there wasn't any local tour covering much about literature and certainly not crime fiction. There are also plenty of Game of Thrones tours for instance, but again I noticed that there wasn't a tour covering other film and TV. I developed an idea around visiting locations of locally set books, TV and film, focusing on crime. I approached Belfast Hidden Tours and they had thought about starting a similar project to add to their portfolio themselves too. They liked that mine would be a bespoke tour, a lot to do with writing while being delivered by a local writer. So we teamed up together. We worked on it, drafting and then trying it out, then took it from there. We've been really pleased with all of the interest and feedback received last season. It was great craic making features for UTV Life and Good Morning Ulster.
The main TV/ film that we cover is Line of Duty, The Fall and Odd Man Out. The main literature we cover is the overall 'Ulster Noir' scene, from the likes of Colin Bateman to the recent big hitters such as Steve Cavanagh and Stuart Neville.
We often take on private bookings or work with other organisations. We're delighted to have been invited to take part in this year's Noireland Festival. The last one was a super weekend of all things Noir, and we hope that partnering with our tour will be a really good fit. The line up for the festival again looks to be brilliant. We're going to be doing a special hour tour every day of the festival, starting and ending at The Europa. You receive two of my novellas on ebook with the tickets. They've been selling really well, but there are a few tickets still available to buy online. (£10 per person)
I think Lee Child said it best: "Belfast is the most Noir place on Earth."
Good luck, and thanks for having me.
Then of course there was the finalisation of the Programme for the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing. This festival is going to be HUGE!! We're so excited by the events that will be taking place throughout April in venues across Belfast and possibly beyond.
The Programme will be announced soon #Excited but obviously having me as one of the Festival Directors means that there will definitely be a bit of Noir in there somewhere. In fact, I'm delighted to say that I will be joined for my first ever panel event, by amongst others (all will be revealed soon, I promise), Conlig Crimewriter, Simon Maltman.
I first met Simon, our guest blogger, in the Summer of last year, when having heard about his Noir related Walking Tours of Belfast, I booked tickets for my wife, Heather and I. We were lucky to be the only people on the tour that day and what an excellent and informative tour it was too. Since then, Simon and I have become firm friends (though I still haven't convinced him to include any of the locations used in my books on the tour).
In addition to taking part in the Northern Ireland Festival of Writing in April,
Simon is scheduled to host a special series of walking tours for Crime Fiction Fans and aficionados as part of the upcoming Noireland International Crime Fiction Festival during the weekend of 8-10th March 2019. The festival is a must for Crime Fiction Fans, with an excellent programme that attracts a veritable who's who of local and international talent in the genre, but if attending, please make sure you set some time aside for a walk with Simon. You won't regret it, but to tell you more, I'll stop waffling now and let you hear from the man himself.
Thanks for inviting me along to your blog! We've been running our 'Belfast Noir' tours for about a year now. It had struck me that there wasn't any local tour covering much about literature and certainly not crime fiction. There are also plenty of Game of Thrones tours for instance, but again I noticed that there wasn't a tour covering other film and TV. I developed an idea around visiting locations of locally set books, TV and film, focusing on crime. I approached Belfast Hidden Tours and they had thought about starting a similar project to add to their portfolio themselves too. They liked that mine would be a bespoke tour, a lot to do with writing while being delivered by a local writer. So we teamed up together. We worked on it, drafting and then trying it out, then took it from there. We've been really pleased with all of the interest and feedback received last season. It was great craic making features for UTV Life and Good Morning Ulster.
The main TV/ film that we cover is Line of Duty, The Fall and Odd Man Out. The main literature we cover is the overall 'Ulster Noir' scene, from the likes of Colin Bateman to the recent big hitters such as Steve Cavanagh and Stuart Neville.
We often take on private bookings or work with other organisations. We're delighted to have been invited to take part in this year's Noireland Festival. The last one was a super weekend of all things Noir, and we hope that partnering with our tour will be a really good fit. The line up for the festival again looks to be brilliant. We're going to be doing a special hour tour every day of the festival, starting and ending at The Europa. You receive two of my novellas on ebook with the tickets. They've been selling really well, but there are a few tickets still available to buy online. (£10 per person)
I think Lee Child said it best: "Belfast is the most Noir place on Earth."
Good luck, and thanks for having me.
The Merlin Project announces NI Festival of Writing
So in my last post I mentioned that I would be working with The Merlin Project quite a bit this year and that I would talk more about it at a later stage. Well here goes...
Towards the end of last year Tina Calder, Janine Cobain and I set up a not for profit organisation called The Merlin Project. Developed in conjunction with Excalibur Press, we as Directors of the Organisation will be making it our mission to engage with, empower and educate writers all across Northern Ireland to be the best they can be and to inspire, motivate and encourage them to "unleash the power of their story". This will be done through a range of events including workshops and training opportunities and through working with schools, charities and various other groups.
Never known to do things by halves, we kicked off 2019 with the announcement that we will be facilitating the NI Festival of Writing in the Spring of this year, Northern Ireland’s first festival of its kind. I’ll post another blog on the programme for the festival at a later date, but for now, if you would like to attend or perhaps even take part, check us out on www.festivalofwriting.org
That was closely followed by a training workshop which allowed a large group of primary school children in the North West, to develop their communication skills through the mediums of story telling and blogging.
I’m happy to report that this event, the first of many, was a huge success with fantastic feedback and lots of happy kids left eagerly anticipating our return 😊
#futurewriters #unleashthepowerofyourstory
Towards the end of last year Tina Calder, Janine Cobain and I set up a not for profit organisation called The Merlin Project. Developed in conjunction with Excalibur Press, we as Directors of the Organisation will be making it our mission to engage with, empower and educate writers all across Northern Ireland to be the best they can be and to inspire, motivate and encourage them to "unleash the power of their story". This will be done through a range of events including workshops and training opportunities and through working with schools, charities and various other groups.
Never known to do things by halves, we kicked off 2019 with the announcement that we will be facilitating the NI Festival of Writing in the Spring of this year, Northern Ireland’s first festival of its kind. I’ll post another blog on the programme for the festival at a later date, but for now, if you would like to attend or perhaps even take part, check us out on www.festivalofwriting.org
That was closely followed by a training workshop which allowed a large group of primary school children in the North West, to develop their communication skills through the mediums of story telling and blogging.
I’m happy to report that this event, the first of many, was a huge success with fantastic feedback and lots of happy kids left eagerly anticipating our return 😊
#futurewriters #unleashthepowerofyourstory
